


Merry Christmas, Birdie!

by neonAscendant



Category: Hetalia: Axis Powers
Genre: Fluffy, M/M, for the prucan gift exchange
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-01-01
Updated: 2015-01-01
Packaged: 2018-03-04 15:48:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,252
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3073463
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/neonAscendant/pseuds/neonAscendant
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Gilbert is a little worried about meeting Matthew's family, even if he shouldn't be.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Merry Christmas, Birdie!

**Author's Note:**

> This is for tumblr user aphcananadas/aphsananatasan (whichever they are using) for the Prucan holiday gift exchange. Hopefully they like it!  
> Once again, my tumblr url is aph-anya-braginsky

The airport was crowded to the point where hips were pressed against each other and people had to almost physically fight their way through the masses. The voices were steadily layered as more and more people left their flights to find their respective families or loved ones. It was the season to be jolly, and Gilbert Beilschmidt had come to realise that being at an airport two nights before Christmas eve was a bad idea that he strongly regretted. At least Matthew seemed to be happy. The German cast a sidelong glance at his boyfriend, feeling his lips quirk up involuntarily. 

Matthew stood beside him, eyes skimming over the flight-board quickly, with an arm tucked neatly into the crook of Gilbert’s elbow. He was nearly vibrating in excitement. “ Mattie, you can calm down,” Gilbert said, laughing a little. Matthew locked eyes with him before tearing them away, and he scratched the back of his head with his free hand. “ Eh? Oh… I guess I am little excited. I haven’t seen them in a while, you know?” 

This simple phrase made Gilbert tense a little; he had to wonder if he had forgotten the reason they were here in the first place. “ It’s gonna be awesome, just you wait.” Despite his belief in the statement, deep in his gut, he felt like something was going to go extremely wrong. It might just have been nerves, due to his impending doom.  
The fact of the matter was, Gilbert had no idea what to expect from Matthew’s family. Each time he brought them up, his boyfriend got alarmingly quiet. If that wasn’t scary enough, the only indication he had to go on was Matthew’s brother, Alfred. If his parents were anything like the boisterous man, they were in for a long week. As this thought passed through his mind, he saw the board light up in his peripheral and turned to look. The intercom came on and they barely heard over the hoards, “ Now announcing flight number 3171’s arrival at Gate C21. Heathrow to Ontario.” 

He felt Matthew’s arm tense inside his. Matthew gave him a wobbly smile and then towed him off in the direction of the baggage claim.   
*  
Naturally, Matthew’s parents would be the ones bickering over a suitcase. When the Canadian had suggested his dads come over for Christmas, he wasn’t exactly in his right mind. In fact, he was almost certain he had been a bit drunk. Christmas was the absolute worst time for his parents to meet his boyfriend. If they didn’t like Gilbert, then there was a good chance that it would be a miserable holiday. 

He was a little disappointed that he hadn’t seen this coming.

Francis stood about three feet away from the Brit, who was beckoning to the suitcase and gesturing rapidly. 

Gilbert’s expression was one of horror, and Matthew had to fight back a smile. “ Is that-?” Gilbert didn’t finish his question and instead made a face.

“ Yeah,” he told him. “ That’s them.”

“ Shouldn’t we try to stop them?” asked Gilbert a little awkwardly, making as though he was going to move forward. Matthew grabbed his sleeve and shook his head. “ Just let them finish. Trust me.” 

Arthur swore and threw his arms in the air.

“ Trust this rubbish airline to lose our luggage.”

“ Your luggage, not mine, Arthur. I really don’t see what is such a big deal.” Francis corrected his husband.

“ You know what I meant, you total ass!” snarled Arthur. “ If I don’t have my cookbook then I can’t make Christmas dinner!”

“ Perhaps it is for the best. After all, having food poisoning during the Holidays would be unfortunate. Don’t you think?”

“ How dare you-?” 

Matthew’s advice was understood as this phrase was uttered, or rather yelled, and the Brit threw himself towards the Frenchman.

*

The drive back to their house was filled with conversation. The two had managed to pull Matthew’s fathers apart and after a warm greeting to their son, Gilbert was introduced to the two men who had raised his boyfriend. He was a little worried about the fact that his first encounter with Mr. Bonnefoy was pulling him away from a fight, but the man assured him it was fine and that many of Matthew’s exes had had to do the same. 

In hindsight, Gilbert was surprised Matthew had made it to adulthood considering how insane his parents’ relationship was. The two never stopped bickering, even on the car ride back to their house, and when they weren’t bickering, the passive aggressive comments took over. He’d once heard that the French and British hated each other passionately, but he would never have imagined that it was quite so literal. 

They arrived back at their home, where Gilbert carried Francis’ suitcase upstairs and into the guest room. When he went back downstairs, he found the three sitting across from each other at the dining table. The Christmas tree twinkled from its place beside the mantle, and the presents below the tree were leaning on each other haphazardly.

“ Gil, could you make some tea?” Matthew asked his boyfriend, reaching out to momentarily grab his hand as he passed. All in all, Gilbert thought, they hadn’t really asked him many questions yet. He was sure that they would do so, though, in their own time. His stomach dropped. What if they wanted to talk to him alone? “ Ja, of course.”  
He pulled a box of tea from the cupboard and turned his head to look back. “ Er, where did you say the kettle was, Birdie?” 

“ Under the sink.”

“ So, Gilbert…,” began Arthur, crossing his legs in front of him. “ ‘Birdie?’” His tone was curious, and Francis too seemed intrigued by the nickname.

Gilbert laughed as he filled the kettle with water. “ Well, when we first met he was working at the pet shop. He actually sold me my canary.”

“ That bird is a menace.” Matthew muttered under his breath. 

“ Nah, he’s not. He just gets excited easily.”

“ I just think it’s ironic I sold Gilbird to you to get rid of him and I ended up with him again, anyway.” Matthew stated and leaned back in his seat. “ How do you think that happened, hm?” 

Gilbert turned the oven dial with a sideways grin. “ It was obviously fate.” 

“ Fate does work in mysterious ways, doesn’t it?” Francis quipped and he smiled gently at his son’s boyfriend. Gilbert returned the sentiment, feeling some of the tension slip away. At least one parent liked him. He still wasn’t certain how Arthur felt about him, and he was the parent Gilbert was really worried about. 

“ I’ll say,” scoffed Arthur. “ Who’d have thought Matthew would actually settle down?” Thinking this was an insult towards his partner, Gilbert opened his mouth to defend him, only to close it a moment later when Matthew started laughing. 

“ I was a little wild, eh.” He ran a hand through his curls.

“ Wait,” Gilbert stopped them, confused. “ Birdie was wild?” The Brit’s reaction to his question was one of disbelief. “ Has he not told you? God, you would have thought he was going to join a brothel!” Matthew buried his face in his hands and groaned. Gilbert couldn’t pull his eyes away from the scene as he picked the kettle up from where it shrieked at the stove. “ Dad…”

“ What? He asked, didn’t he?” Arthur replied. Francis laughed openly at his son’s mortification before looping an arm around the back of Arthur’s chair. To Gilbert’s surprise, the Brit leaned into the Frenchman without another word. 

“ It wasn’t that bad. It was just a couple of people...,” Matthew defended himself. 

“ Ah, but of course,” Francis agreed. The twitching of his mouth suggested he was trying to fight back a grin. “ That is, if you count the hockey team as a couple of people.” Gilbert just barely caught the mug he was holding and stared at his boyfriend with wide eyes. Holy shit. 

“ I didn’t date the whole team! Did I?” 

“ Mm, Matthew, I don’t recall saying anything about dating.” Arthur raised an eyebrow. Matthew glanced over to see Gilbert quietly pouring the hot water over the tea bag. Gilbert met his eyes momentarily and then quickly looked away.

“ Don’t judge me! I’ve heard stories from your brother before. At least I knew the people I slept with.”

Gilbert chuckled, tilting his head to acknowledge the accuracy in his boyfriend’s claims, and sat the mug down in front of Arthur. “ I don’t know if you could really call it that. I just frequented bars a lot.” As he said this, he sat down heavily in the chair beside Matthew. Over the brim of his mug Arthur smiled serenely. “ Ah, the good old days. Drunken fist fights and one night stands.” 

“ I remember well,” Francis said, amused. “ If I recall correctly, I was the one bringing you back to your flat most nights. It was a wonder I didn’t kill you… Getting calls at three in the morning from a rather angry barman is not a pleasant way to wake up.”

“ Being woken up by a pissed Frenchman isn’t very nice, either.” Arthur retorted. 

Matthew began to massage his temples. Gilbert couldn’t really see how the two in front of him had survived their relationship, or how said relationship had even begun. It was different from most relationships he’d seen before. “ Um,” he began. The other three turned their attention to him. “ I know this is weird, and you don’t have to answer, but… How exactly did you two meet?” He cringed away, waiting for the oncoming proclamation that it was none of his business. What he didn’t expect was for the two of them to roar with laughter at his question. 

Francis was more inclined to answer this, and so he began to speak as Arthur continued to huff laughter into his tea. “ We met after college when we were both looking for a place to live. We had put out an ad in the paper, and when we contacted each other, it just seemed to be the smartest idea to buy a flat together and split the rent. It was difficult.”   
“ Difficult is too nice a term.” Arthur disagreed fervently. Francis waved his hand dismissingly. “ Do you want to scar the poor boy?” 

Matthew hid his face in his arms and groaned despairingly. “ Papa, please don’t tell him the whole story.” Gilbert reached over and stroked Matthew’s hair lovingly. “ Nein, I want to hear this,” he told his boyfriend. “ Of course you do…”

“ I won’t tell you all of it, because the whole story is rather explicit, but I will say that for about two years we were in an intense rivalry based on sex and not burning the flat down. We would go out and get laid as much as possible, and then we would drag each other’s inebriated bodies back home.” 

“ But how did you actually-?” started Gilbert. He was stopped by Matthew sitting straight up and yawning loudly. “ Well, Dad, Papa, I’m sure we’re all really tired. It’s gotten pretty late so why don’t we head up to bed?” His face was bright red. Francis laughed and Arthur rolled his eyes. 

“ If you say so, love.” He tipped the mug back and swallowed what was left of the tea before standing. “ Mm, Gilbert you do make your tea very well. You’ll have to give Francis pointers.” 

“ Er.. Thank you?” I think, his brain finished. 

The Frenchman made a face behind his husband’s back. “ ‘ Give Francis pointers’, my ass. He can’t even make his own tea without destroying something,” he mumbled under his breath. 

“ Tell me Matthew,” Francis prompted his son brightly. “ Can Gilbert cook? I certainly hope so, because cooking is a skill everyone should excel at.” Arthur’s mouth dropped behind him. 

“ You’ll find out tomorrow, I guess,” Matthew grinned tightly. He grabbed Gilbert’s hand and dragged him upstairs, leaving Francis laughing behind them. He slammed their bedroom door behind them and sagged against the wood, breathing heavily. “ And now you know what I meant.” Matthew scratched his head and wobbled over to the bed, flopped down and let out a laugh. “ Oh, come on, Birdie, it wasn’t that bad. I like them.” He sat down beside his boyfriend.

“ Well, they like you too, thank God.” 

“ Really?” Gilbert sounded relieved. Matthew chuckled and pulled him down to lay with him. He leaned over and wrapped his arms around the albino’s neck. Pressing a kiss to his lips, he murmured, “ Of course. They simultaneously complimented you while insulting each other. You are definitely in their good graces.” Gilbert was immensely relieved by this turn of events. He and Matthew’s parents hadn’t talked too much, but he’d somehow won their approval. Maybe this Christmas really would be awesome. He kissed his boyfriend again. “ Hey, Birdie?”

“ Mhmm?”

“ Do I actually have to cook?” Matthew pulled away and raised his eyebrows. “ Well, yeah. You’ll be cooking with Papa. You didn’t think you were going to get away without having the Talk, did you?” 

“ Shit.”

Downstairs, the Christmas lights still dimly glimmered and an empty mug sat on the dining room table. Francis and Arthur were seated on the couch. One of Francis’ arms was thrown across the back of the couch, while the other was looped around Arthur’s waist. They watched the fire quietly. Until Francis broke the silence. “ Can we have sex?” 

“ Francis, we are not having sex at our son’s house!”

Yes, thought Francis. This would be a lovely Christmas.


End file.
